


Butterflies in her Belly

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-30
Updated: 2013-03-30
Packaged: 2017-12-06 22:37:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/740946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He needed to be happy for her.  She was always happy for him.  Now was not the time for Hotch to be a hypocrite.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Butterflies in her Belly

She’d taken a couple of days off because there was plenty to do. So it made little sense that she was currently lying on her couch. Emily was watching _A Baby Story_ on the satellite cable and eating biscuits with jam and bacon. Maybe when her stepmother came to town next week she would feel more in the mood to do things. 

Work had been busy lately; there was never a time when it wasn’t. Having some time away from hunting the bad guys was good. When her cell phone rang, Emily reached over and answered it. She took a drink of orange juice first since she’d been stuffing her face with bread.

“Hello.”

“Hi.”

“Hi.” She smiled.

“How are you?”

“I'm fine. Who’s this?”

“Wow, it’s been so long since you've heard my voice that you don’t even recognize it. I probably deserve that since I rarely call. It’s Aaron Hotchner.”

“Oh my God, I'm so sorry Hotch.” Emily laughed. “Are you alright? You don’t sound like yourself.”

“I'm in the car.”

“I've talked to you in the car before.” she said.

“I'm fine; I don’t know why I don’t sound like myself. I'm sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. How are you?”

“I didn’t get a chance to say hello when you Skype’d with Jack over the weekend.” He said.

“I know. Why is he getting so big, Hotch? And he’s so smart. It’s hard not to be there to just hug him and have fun but its so good talking to him. I had a chance to say hello to Beth too. Are you guys good?”

“Yeah.” he answered quickly.

“Are you sure?”

“We’re fine. She's working in New York now and it’s a little difficult but we’re trying to make the best of it.”

“Long distance can be hard on anyone. I don’t envy you but I definitely support you guys.”

“Thank you. Penelope told us your big news. I don’t know if she was supposed to or not but she couldn’t keep it in. She was literally about to burst.”

“Believe me, if I wanted to keep it a secret Penelope would've been the last person I told.” Emily laughed. “I wanted to share it with you guys.”

“So why didn’t you tell us?” Hotch asked.

“I don’t know. I guess in the end I didn’t think anyone could do it with more enthusiasm than Garcia could.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“My ankles are swollen and my back aches. Other than that, I'm fine. I'm also craving a clove like you wouldn’t believe. I'm climbing the walls here. Oh, and all food is delicious. All food, Hotch, I mean it. I eat like a pregnant hippopotamus. I'm eating right now.”

“Well eating for two can do that to you. Penelope never mentioned how far along you were.”

“I'm seven months on Sunday.” Emily said.

“Seven months!” Hotch couldn’t conceal his shock. “You're practically almost there. Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“I'm 42 years old, Hotch. I was so afraid when I found out; happy but afraid. There are so many risks at my age and I just kept letting the worse case scenarios run through my head. I didn’t tell a soul until I was four months and out of my first trimester. 

“And it’s been hell on my body…let me tell you.” she whistled. “But so far things are good. I go to the doctor twice a month and have been through a battery of tests. I'm healthy, the baby’s healthy, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

“I even had the amniocentesis. I was scared, I read about them possibly causing miscarriages. Natalie flew from DC to hold my hand for the whole thing. The baby and I are both doing well.”

“I'm so glad to hear it. I know how much you want to be a mother.”

“I do.” Emily nodded and smiled. “I was actually looking into adoption here. I'm settled now; think I’ve found a good place for myself. Then I got this news and its just…wow. But I still want to adopt, maybe when the one in my belly is a toddler.”

“Are you having a boy or a girl?” Hotch asked.

He actually had a million questions but it surely wasn’t his place to ask most of them. He’d been shocked when Penelope told the team that Emily was pregnant. He’d been even more shocked when he saw the pictures. Of course he was happy for her, he would be happy for anyone he cared about sharing that news. 

It was just something that stabbed him when he heard. There were so many things left unsaid with Emily. When she left it hurt and Hotch didn’t know how to express it. He didn’t know how to express anything where Emily was concerned. 

So often she’d been there for him had his back. Yet Hotch felt as if he failed when the ball was in his court. Her getting on a plane bound of Heathrow seemed like one of his biggest failures. He hadn't brought Ian Doyle back and made her past collide with her present. That hadn't been anyone’s fault. But that he couldn’t give her back what she lost…he would never stop blaming himself.

“It’s a surprise.” Emily replied. “I figured since the whole thing was a surprise I'm going to keep with that theme.”

“But what are you thinking in your head?”

“Honestly?”

“Yes, I want to know.”

“Well there's this part of me that doesn’t want a girl because I know what kind of daughter I was. I would probably end up in the nut hatch if I had to raise myself.” She smirked. “I also don’t know what I’d teach my son either. I just don’t even know. Right now I feel most comfortable calling the baby Belly. It’s better than saying it…how distasteful is that?”

“Belly Prentiss, huh?” he laughed.

“Easter.” Emily replied.

Aha, so one of Hotch’s questions was answered. He already knew but now he really knew. It was like a punch in the gut but he didn’t know why. He needed to be happy for her. She was always happy for him. Now was not the time for Hotch to be a hypocrite.

“Clyde must be beside himself.”

“He's happy; we’re happy. Belly will be much loved and raising her should be quite an adventure.”

“I can say from experience that its true.” Hotch said. “I just wanted to call you and say congratulations.”

“Thank you. It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“It’s good to hear yours too, Emily.”

“I know how busy you are and I'm far away. Still, I would love to see you. You should bring Jack, and Beth of course, to London soon. I'm sure you could use a vacation and I’ll make sure you all have a good time.”

“You're not going to have time to cater to us.” He said. “You're going to be even busier than you are now in a couple of months.”

“My stepmother is retiring. I told her that she didn’t have to do that but she's so excited about being a grandmother I think she’s about to come out of her skin. She and my dad are going to move here. They’ll both be retired and want to be close. 

“I'm sure I'm going to have to wrestle with Nat to get time with Belly. Don’t worry; I’ll surely have time for you guys. I miss Captain Jack. I miss you Hotch.”

“I miss you too. I’ll see if it’s feasible in the future. Just keep calling Jack on the weekends.”

“I will. And you can always call. I'm busy, you’re busy I know, but I make time for family.”

“OK.” Hotch nodded. He didn’t know what else to say. It was time to wrap the call up anyway. He’d been sitting in the parking lot at Quantico for at least 15 minutes.

“Tell everyone I love them and miss them.” Emily said. “Give them hugs and kisses from me. And you better do it…I'm going to ask Penelope about it.”

“I'm not doing it. But I will tell everyone that you said hello.”

“And Alex is doing alright?”

“She’s doing fine. She’s a solid agent and a good addition to our team. You can't be replaced Prentiss. But if you had to go then I don’t think we could do better than Alex.”

“I’d like to get to know her.” Emily said.

“When you come home for a visit I would think the last place you'd want to be is here.” Hotch said.

“Don’t be silly; Quantico was more home than anyplace was.”

“Yeah. Well, I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Mmm hmm, sure you will.” She laughed. “I love you, Hotch. I don’t say it a lot and it’s a little embarrassing but it’s still true.”

“I love you too.” he cleared his throat. “Bye Emily…take care of Belly.”

“I will. Goodbye, Hotch.”

He clicked off the phone. He didn’t want to hear her hang up. Hotch looked at himself in the rearview mirror, put on his game face, and got out of the car. It was going to be a long day so he needed to be on point. Talking to her was both pleasurable and painful; it was nice to know that some things would never change.

Emily sighed as she held on to her phone. She opened up her photo album, clicking on pictures of JJ’s wedding. She was smiling in all of them, drinking a lot of champagne and having a great time. Even then she knew it was the end, and some of the people in the pictures knew that it was too. 

She stopped on a picture of her, Hotch, and Jack. Jack looked so happy, cuddled up with Agent Emily in one of the chairs. That wasn’t her life; he wasn’t her little boy. But she loved him so much. 

She loved the life she used to have with the BAU. They had truly become her family. Now she was about to start a family. She didn’t know if things would really work out with her and Clyde. 

They were already focusing more on being co-parents than being a couple. Emily would love her baby more than anything. She loved London, Interpol, and the new adventures in her life. The past was just that, the present was a new adventure everyday, and the future was quite bright.

***


End file.
